1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to telephony and more specifically to placing a call on hold while keeping the line available.
2. Introduction
Multiple users call to a conference bridge or are otherwise connected to form conference calls. However, if conference participants want to have a conference call and one of the participants is not at their desk or is otherwise unavailable, that user is unable to join. Further, some participants may have conflicting appointments or may receive other, more important, phone calls. Currently, users can mute the conference call and perform other tasks, but muting the call still ties up the telephone line and does not allow the user to make other phone calls. Similarly, the user can place the conference call on hold, but many telephone systems play some form of hold music while a line is on hold, which may be broadcast to the other conference participants. Even if the music is pleasant and relatively quiet (which is not a guarantee), the background music from a single caller can be distracting to the remaining conference participants. If more than one participant uses this technique, the conference bridge quickly becomes unusable as multiple strains of different ‘on hold’ music occupy the audio space of the conference.
Further, if a user is part of a conference, and leaves for some reason, the process of rejoining the conference is cumbersome and requires the user to redial and re-enter the conference code or other similar number.